Assessment of existing management systems

Experience indicates that in a typical company there will be considerable overlap between and within the PSM and ESH and quality management systems. Your work to secure support (Chapter 2) will have already demonstrated many of these overlaps. The detailed assessment of the existing management systems described in this chapter will provide a comprehensive understanding of the overlaps. 

Teamwork is essential for the successful ISO 9000 implementation as well as for the development of the management system and to cultivate a continuous improvement culture throughout the work force. Team building should begin at the outset of the project. The initial role of the team(s), led by a facilitator—preferably in the role of a project manager—is to closely examine the existing systems and methods in place and question their applicability in the current environment. The requirements of the customer must be translated into departmental requirements and their impact assessed. Customer personnel will often communicate with different levels and functional areas of the enterprise ... 

By conducting the assessment against these two sets of criteria you can accomplish two objectives identifying the existence and current status of your company s PSM management systems, and evaluating them against good practice. 

The laboratory should ensure the establishment of an effective and efficient internal audit process to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the quality management system. The internal audit process provides an independent tool for obtaining objective evidence that the existing requirements have been met, since the internal audit evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of the laboratory. 

The periodic management reviews ensure continuing suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness of the overall quality system, including assessment of areas for improvement, changes in existing policies, and objectives for further improvement. 

The primary purpose of this Report is to present NCRP s recommendations on classification of hazardous wastes. The Report is directed at a multidisciplinary audience with different levels of technical understanding in the fields of radiation and chemical risk assessment and radioactive and chemical waste management. Anew hazardous waste classification system is proposed that differs from the existing classification systems for radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes in two fundamental respects. First, hazardous waste would be classified based on considerations of health risks to the public that arise from disposal of waste. Hazardous waste would not be classified based, for example, on its source. Second, the classification system would apply to any hazardous waste, and separate classification systems for radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes would not be retained. In the proposed system, waste would be classified based only on its properties, and the same rules would apply in classifying all hazardous wastes. 

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